Mussoorie gets free Wi-Fi service

Mussoorie became the first hill-station in northern India to launch free wi-fi services with the chief minister Harish Rawat formally starting the service on Wednesday.TNN | September 02, 2015, 22:02 IST

The government plans to set-up 50,000-80,000 hotspots across Delhi as part of the free Wi-Fi endeavour. (Representative photo)

MUSSOORIE: Mussoorie became the first hill-station in northern India to launch free wi-fi services with the chief minister Harish Rawat formally starting the service on Wednesday. Addressing a huge gathering after the inauguration, Rawat said that the service would be "a boon to residents as well as tourists." "The wi-fi facility would be completely free of cost for the first few months. After this period, users may get free internet for 15-20 minutes every day after which they will be charged a nominal amount," he announced.

The service, which has been put in place by Reliance Jio under the government's Digital India initiative, will cover a stretch of 4 km from the Mall Road to Jhulaghar, which is frequented the most by tourists.

The kickstarting of the service was hailed as a welcome move by tourists as well as locals. "This is a good decision as people who come for holidaying here will also be able to do their business work simultaneously because they are connected," said a tourist, Mahesh Mishra from Jaipur.

Author and long-time Mussoorie resident Ganesh Saili also praised the initiative. "This is the advent of a new age for Mussoorie. After all, it is technology which will change India and not politics," he said. However, Rajat Agarwal, president of Mussoorie Trader's Association, had a different take on the matter. "It's a good effort. But one should see the fine print. To begin with, most people now have internet on their phones. So is this wi-fi necessary? Also, the entire effort of making Mussoorie wire free comes with a lot of underground cabling work which takes its toll on the roads. "